The Chicago Bulls announced that Derrick Rose will have surgery tomorrow. The procedure will be a menistecomy, which means his torn right medial meniscus will be removed. The removal of his meniscus is the strategy for repairing his damaged knee.
Rose suffered the same exact injury 15 months ago. Now I’m not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, so I turn it over to this Chicago Tribune article.
“Removing the torn cartilage would allow Rose to return in as little as four weeks but carries longer-term risks, while repairing the tear would keep him off the court for the rest of the season, Chicago orthopedic surgeons said.”
That was written by Tribune writers K.C. Johnson, Chris Hine and Wes Veintecher.
The quotes within that piece by doctors indicate that Derrick Rose is making a choice that will still enable him to have a basketball career, but could lead to longer term problems. In other words, Rose and the Bulls are in full “win now mode,” putting all their chips in on this season’s hand. No specific timetable was given for the return of Derrick Rose, but going the meniscus removal route, instead of repair, means we’re ballparking his recovery and return time in weeks, not months.
Also, this decision clearly shows how dedicated Rose is to basketball and winning, given that he’s willing to sacrifice his body now, at the risk of arthritis and other health issues later. Hopefully, this will kill off the last of the “Derrick Rose isn’t tough/doesn’t care” dead-enders that remain in Chicago.
Of course, logic and reason doesn’t work on these people, so more than likely these idiots will persist.
I discussed Derrick Rose, Patrick Kane and “Black Tuesday” in Chicago, in detail on 750 The Game Portland. (here’s the link to the audio)
Derrick Rose’s career arc has drawn comparisons to Mark Prior, Penny Hardaway and Grant Hill, but we’ll save that discussion for a more appropriate time and space. Now it’s time to think more about Aaron Brooks and Kirk Hinrich for the time being.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital, eBay, Google News and CBS Interactive Inc.
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